Spirited away

The alms-giving ceremony at daybreak is a tradition in Luang Prabang. Photo by Rebecca Lo / For China Daily

Soon, a parade of orange-robe clad monks began to stream down the street, pausing just long enough for us to drop a handful of rice into their pouches. Many were barefoot young men, who then retreated back into one of the temples to spend the rest of the day in prayer and contemplation.

Afterward, our driver Uncle Fong took us to a street adjacent to the National Museum that serves as the town's morning produce market. We saw fat quails in wicker baskets, chilies and eggplants, meat roasting on charcoal spits and even a Komodo dragon that would make an interesting pet for some brave collector.

As we were starting to fade after the early-morning start, we stopped by Joma Bakery and Cafe for a break. The two-story hangout is popular with backpackers, who tend to park for hours in one of the upstairs rooms armed with iPads and coffee.

Despite the lure of numerous baked pastries, we decided to save our appetites for dinner and went with such snacks as a taco salad and mango crumble, with minty lemon squash to cool us down.

We then detoured out to the Lao Textiles Natural Dyes workshop and showroom in Xang Khong village. Weavers were working on an assortment of fabrics to be made into shawls, skirts, rugs and wall hangings, with patterns ranging from traditional to contemporary.